Embracing the New Technology Era: 'Three Horsepower' Revitalize Automotive Sensors

After the 2008 global financial crisis, the automotive industry entered a new development cycle. Increasingly strict environmental regulations, rising safety standards, and growing user demand for comfort and intelligent experiences have accelerated the adoption of new technologies, materials, and architectures. The 'three horsepower'—new energy vehicles (NEVs), autonomous driving, and connected vehicles—have not only reshaped car design but also injected unprecedented growth momentum into the automotive sensor industry.

The traditional automotive sensor market has long been dominated by a few European, Japanese, and American giants, with a highly concentrated supply chain and deep technological barriers. However, with the acceleration of the 'three horsepower,' sensor demand has expanded from traditional engine management and HVAC control to battery thermal management, environmental perception, and multi-modal fusion. The global automotive sensor market has grown from $16.9 billion in 2012 to over $45 billion in 2026, with a CAGR of 6.5%–8%. China, as the world’s largest automotive market, is becoming the most active source of this growth.

Nexisense, a domestic brand specializing in high-reliability automotive-grade sensors, covers pressure, temperature, inertial, and gas sensors, supporting the localization upgrade in NEVs, autonomous driving, and connected vehicles. This article analyzes how the 'three horsepower' drive the sensor industry’s revival and the opportunities and challenges for Chinese enterprises.

New Energy Vehicles: The 'Nervous System' of Battery and Thermal Management

NEVs, especially pure electric and plug-in hybrids, require exponentially more sensors with higher precision. A typical pure electric vehicle may have 100–200 sensors, far exceeding traditional ICE vehicles. Battery thermal management is a core application.

Lithium-ion batteries operate optimally between 15–45℃; high temperatures can cause thermal runaway, while low temperatures significantly reduce charge/discharge efficiency and battery life. Therefore, numerous high-precision temperature, pressure, and gas sensors are deployed in battery packs to monitor each module or individual cell in real-time. Nexisense’s NTC/PT temperature sensors and high-reliability pressure transmitters, certified to AEC-Q100, are widely used in BMS and thermal management systems of mainstream automakers, supporting active liquid/air cooling and early thermal runaway warning.

Additionally, motor winding temperature monitoring, coolant pressure monitoring, and hydrogen fuel cell pressure and gas concentration monitoring also place higher requirements on sensors. NEVs have elevated sensors from 'auxiliary components' to 'safety core elements.'

Autonomous Driving: Multi-Modal Perception Revolution from L2 to L4

Autonomous driving is a domain with explosive sensor demand. From L2 advanced driver assistance to L4 high-level autonomy, vehicles require 360° perception with no blind spots, increasing both the number and types of sensors.

Core categories include:

• Vehicle body perception: MEMS accelerometers, gyroscopes, pressure sensors for vehicle posture, tire pressure, and suspension monitoring, forming the basis for ADAS and chassis control.

• Environmental perception: millimeter-wave radar, LiDAR, cameras, ultrasonic sensors for object detection, distance measurement, and semantic segmentation.

MEMS inertial sensors are indispensable for autonomous driving, handling real-time vehicle attitude calculation and dead reckoning. Nexisense’s high-precision MEMS IMUs support wide temperature ranges and anti-vibration design, already mass-produced in L2+ and L3 vehicles.

Autonomous driving requires high reliability (ASIL-B/D), low latency, interference resistance, and redundant design. Nexisense continues investing in ASIL certification and multi-sensor fusion algorithm development, helping Chinese automakers achieve independent and controllable perception layers.

Connected Vehicles: Sensor Neural Network in the IoT Era

Connected vehicles (CV) are the first explosive IoT application in the automotive sector. With 5G-V2X and C-V2X deployment, vehicles become networked nodes, requiring sensors to provide 'all-weather, full-scenario, real-time data sharing.'

Typical CV applications include:

• Vehicle status monitoring: engine, battery, tire pressure, and brake system data uploaded to the cloud.

• Environmental perception sharing: broadcasting road conditions and blind spot information via V2V and V2I.

• Remote diagnostics and OTA: sensor data used for fault prediction and software updates.

In the CV era, sensors are no longer isolated measuring components but data sources. Nexisense supports CAN, LIN, and Ethernet protocols for in-vehicle digital sensors, already used in smart connected vehicles and vehicle-road collaboration projects, enabling cloud upload and edge computing integration.

China’s Automotive Sensor Industry: Accelerating from Follower to Competitor

Although traditional automotive sensor markets are dominated by Bosch, Delphi, Sensata, and other giants, China’s MEMS sensor sector has built a complete supply chain from silicon wafer, design, wafer fabrication, packaging, testing to module integration, achieving basic self-reliance.

Policy support, including the 'New Energy Vehicle Development Plan (2021-2035)' and the 'Intelligent Vehicle Innovation Strategy,' along with national funds, continues to accelerate MEMS and high-reliability sensor localization. In 2026, China’s automotive sensor market exceeds RMB 80 billion, with rapid MEMS penetration.

Nexisense exemplifies this trend, with products covering automotive-grade pressure, temperature, inertial, and gas sensors, integrated into mainstream OEMs and Tier1 supply chains, supporting battery thermal management, ADAS, and connected vehicle scenarios.

Trends and Outlook

In the next 3–5 years, automotive sensors will show:

• Multi-modal fusion: integrated modules of temperature, pressure, inertia, gas, and visual/radar sensors.

• Intelligence: built-in edge AI for anomaly detection and prediction.

• High reliability: full automotive-grade, with ASIL-D becoming standard.

• Low-power and wireless: supporting wireless BMS and energy harvesting.

• Significant localization: high-end MEMS localization rate expected to exceed 70% by 2030.

Nexisense will continue to invest in R&D, focusing on automotive-grade high reliability and scenario adaptation, working with industry partners to advance Chinese automotive sensors from 'usable' to 'high-performing' to 'leading.'

FAQ: Automotive Sensor Development Trends

Why is sensor demand surging in NEVs?
Battery thermal management, motor protection, and hydrogen safety require higher precision and reliability in temperature, pressure, and gas sensors compared to traditional ICE vehicles.

Core requirements for MEMS sensors in autonomous driving?
High-precision attitude calculation, low noise, anti-vibration, temperature stability, and ASIL safety levels are essential for L3/L4 autonomous driving.

How can Chinese companies achieve breakthrough in automotive sensors?
Leveraging MEMS technology, policy support, and local supply chain advantages, focusing on emerging scenarios and automotive certifications for rapid scaling and cost efficiency.

How will sensors evolve in the connected vehicle era?
From wired to wireless, low-power, V2X-supporting, with edge computing capability, becoming the neural endpoints for vehicle-cloud collaboration.

Conclusion

The decade after the 2008 financial crisis saw the global automotive industry embracing new technologies, and automotive sensors experienced explosive growth. NEVs, autonomous driving, and connected vehicles together elevated sensors from auxiliary components to core infrastructure for safety, efficiency, and intelligence.

China’s automotive sensor industry, though starting later, has formed a complete MEMS ecosystem, leveraging policy and market size to catch up in emerging fields. Domestic players like Nexisense focus on high reliability, automotive certification, and scenario adaptation, accelerating localization.

In the next ten years, the automotive sensor market will continue rapid growth, forming the perception backbone for intelligent vehicles and smart transportation. Those who secure this wave of technological advancement will shape the next decade of the automotive industry. Act fast—the future is here.